I was going to post this when I got back from Sheffield but I think I might have used to many expletives so here goes.
Charlton are a unique club, we have punched above our weight for many years and generally speaking there have been common factors for this success.
1) Young, hungry, generally British playing staff.
2) Organised defence with a leader amongst the central defence.
3) Battling midfield, always with a ball winner in the middle of the park
4) Wingers/Wide midfielders who would help the full backs as well as getting forward.
At this present time not one of those factors is applicable.
Its been said by a few on here that this is one of the strongest squads that we have had. Well I am sorry to piss on a few bonfires but I actually think this is the worst squad of players we have had since we have been in the Premiership (and I include 98/99)
Not only do we have players with limited ability but we also have players with no passion for their club.
We havent had a decent left back since Powell in his prime (Traore is laughable).
The centre of defence is a joke and has been for a year or so.
Ball winners like Kinsella, Parker and Kish have been replaced with the likes of Faye and Holland.
Gutsy wide midfielders like Stuart, Robbo, even JT of a couple of seasons ago have been replaced with Rommedahl and Ambrose.
Now some of the older players mentioned above may not have been as technically good, but I know who I would rather have in the side now. I was never a fan of Chris Perry purely because his distribution was so poor, but give me his reading of the game and guts over the likes of Borat who organises the side when defending a set piece as well as my wife.
For me there have been two major changes of personnel which I am convinced would have got us a few more points on the board.
1) TEK has played every game. Curbs wanted rid, I want rid. He might be able to do a fancy overhead kick and a few needless volleys but he is not a leader and for me is a major reason why we have let in SO many goals from set pieces (I liked the way he stood and admired the first goal on Saturday)
2) Kish has not started a game. Yes he has his faults, I have swore at him on many occasions BUT he was one of our strongest players last season, he runs, he harries, he tackles and for me is far superior to Holland and Faye.
What we need to do is get back to basics, wholesale changes need to be made now and we need to stick to them.
Diawara and Fortune are our best two centre backs, I know they didnt really click at Chesterfield but we need to play them together now and stick with them.
Kish must start in the middle of the park.
Romm and Ambrose cannot start in the same side. If JT is fit, go with him on the left and Sam on the right.
Quite frankly, I am fed up with trawling up and down the motorways to watch spineless performances like on Saturday. Sheff Utd were there for the taking, all they had was the danger at set pieces. We had enough big lumps on Saturday to curtail that danger yet once again we let in two goals from set pieces.
Only Carson and Reid should have picked up their wages after that performance, lets get the passion back and the only way to do that is to have major changes to personnel
Carson
Young
Diawarra
Fortune (or HH if not fit)
Ashton
Sam
Kish
Faye
Reid
JT
Bent
As I said on Friday, a loss on Saturday was more or less curtains for us, we need to show top 8 form to get us out of this and I cant see it, but we can try to salvage a bit of pride and passion and see where that takes us.
Now is not the time to start blaming people, leave that till the end of the season, keep getting behind the side and we will see if the players will finally respond.
0
Comments
I agree with virtually all of it, bar Ashton / Traore. I don't think Traore will be as bad as you make out. But the two main problem areas of the side, centre mid and centre defence, 12 months on remain our two main problem areas. Couple that with both the lack of creativity and lack of cover from our wide midfielders, and you have a starting 11 with zero spine.
I think the most demoralising aspect is we as supporters can see so many elements of our side that are unbalanced or not functioning correctly. If we can see them, opposing managers / scouts must be having a field day because there is absolutely nothing to fear about playing Charlton at the moment.
Playing Romm is OK at home but we cant play him away, cos he just doesn't give enough effective cover to Young (one of the reasons that LY looks so poor). Bring him on to run at defenders with 20mins to go.
I'd go for 442
Carson
Young, Diawarra, Fortune, Traore
Kish, Faye, Ried, Thomas
Bent, Bent
Yes we need a strong ball winning midfielder who cam pass it a bit, Faye is ok to do the closing down stuff but need someone creative in there to use the possession we get. People are moaning about the defence and they are right to but the reason why they are seeing so much of the ball is because the midfield in front of them are too weak to hold possession, close down other teams midfielders are get the ball to Bent, or to Romm/JT and then Bent.
Getting in a ball winning/tackling/creative midfielder is amust in January. Walton might be the player, but perhaps we should aim for someone with a few years more experience.
Fortune showed at Reading that he can't keep up with fast attackers, El k had to do 2 jobs at Reading instead of 1.
IMO neither HH nor Fortune are defensively better than El k. So far i think Diawara and El K are the best two CD, Gibbs and Sorondo may prove me wrong if we ever see em!
But
I wouldn't put Ashton in defence, hes first premiership start against Nonda, McCarthy and players like Pedersen and Bently. We need to bring him through gradually not throw him in at the deep end.
I would stay with Traore, I don't rate him but he is a better player than Ashton, Youga etc .. otherwise they would be playing there.
I would go 442, purely cos of what I said in a previous post... Darren Bent isn't a target man who likes playing upfront on hes own. When Marcus came on and played upfront with dazza against everton we was MUCH better.
So why did Reed stay 451 against SHEFFIELD UNITED!!
Comon this is a must win game. CAFC
Didn't quite get away with it mind
I am assuming (hoping) that you arent being serious
'I'll mark this one, you take him'.
To me El Kak is a decent footballer, but not a great defender, while Fortune is not a great footballer, but a better defender.
For me its time to give the better defender a go.
I think he'll stick with us down in in the Championship.
Spot on BFR.
What concerns me is that we have been like this since Parker went. Fans were making comments like this 2 years ago and yet nothing has been done to sort it out.
Its easy to forget that Kish was the problem for many last season, and possibly the two before that, and now he is suddenly the answer.
A case of absence makes the heart grow fonder ??
LOVL....Just about sums us up at the moment. The Prominent centre half using Sunday Morning Footy language
Agreed. He has the ability to break play up, but then doesn't do anything with the ball but play it sideways, which is fine if you have someone like Claus beside you who can create, but we don't have that sort of player.
At least with Kish he tries to break the play up and then looks forward. Granted his passes aren't always that great, but at least he gets us moving in the right direction. Currently the oppo know that as soon as they lose the ball, we're likely to do fuck all with it....
Well, I know my team would get a right bollocking if our marking was as shambolic as Charlton's from set pieces!
Luckily, they all seem to have picked up 'if in doubt' and 'don't pass it, lump it'.